Presents results from a survey in the United States that provides some indication of how reading specialists fulfill their roles and how they offer students effective literacy instruction. Notes that the goal was to investigate what reading specialists do so that educators could better understand how they provide services to students and teachers.…

Examines the questions to consider when deciding to use consultants in addressing school safety and crisis preparedness. Reasons for exercising caution when selecting security consultants are addressed. (GR)

During the past 30 years, the author has served as a management consultant to companies that wanted to achieve revolutionary change to become more successful. He has worked with companies as small as 100 employees and as large as General Motors, IBM and Amgen, the world's largest biotechnology company. More recently he has worked (as a pro bono…

Using the principles of mental health and behavioral consultation, combined with concepts from positive psychology, this paper generates a new preventative model of school consultation. This model has two steps: (1) the school psychologist aids the teacher in the development and use of his/her personal positive psychology (e.g., optimism,…

This scenario discusses a situation in which a proposal has been published by a consortium of foundations for an "external" evaluator to evaluate a replication at two new sites of a program they have been funding for many years. A proposal is received from Dr. Porto-Novo, who has been the external evaluator of the initial program for about 10…

Teacher and student acceptability of academic interventions is an important factor for school-based consultants to consider in determining the use and effectiveness of academic interventions. This study compared the acceptability of 3 theoretically distinct mathematics interventions: a cognitive, a behavioral, and a traditional intervention. The…

There are four common stages in the consultative journey: (1) preparing for the relationship; (2) making the most of the experience; (3) committing to change; and (4) acknowledging separations, endings, and good-byes. Two Early Head Start program leaders recount their own experiences of these stages while working with infant mental health…

The explosive growth of the consulting industry in recent years and the controversy surrounding the quality of the consulting function stresses the needs for a better preparation and training of consultants. This article examines the contribution that academia can provide in furthering the development of consultants at different stages in their…

As computer applications are added to social work, educators are increasingly likely to encounter computer anxiety. This form of anxiety has been well-documented in the literature, including warnings that students attracted to fields that are "people professions" such as social work may be especially prone to problems. This qualitative study used…

In this article, the author presents an ethnographic study that investigated the relationships that evolve when professional nurses who own a home health care agency write for multiple, conflicting corporate discourse communities, including their lawyers, management consultants, and marketing professionals. This study revealed that conflicting…

This study evaluated the effectiveness of two consultation-based models for designing academic interventions to enhance the educational functioning of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Children (N = 167) meeting "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual" (4th ed.--text revision; American Psychiatric Association, 2000) criteria for…

Purpose: To explore the influence of competitive strategy in entrepreneur-led SMEs and the effects on e-learning HRD. Design/methodology/approach: Performance consulting company reviews provide holistic information on nine case studies on small and medium sized enterprises drawn from the printing, agri-foods and media industries. Findings:…

Standardized tests are increasingly used to determine students' growth in reading comprehension. In some U.S. school districts, the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has led to a focus on multiple-choice questions to better prepare students for these types of tests. Even though such questions can provide some important information, they do not…

The process that Catonsville Community College (Maryland) went through in moving from a copper to a fiber network is outlined. The discussion addresses the following: describing the need in real terms; building consensus for the project; gaining support by college management; justifying the need for consultant support; writing the request for…

Based on planning, training, and technical assistance experiences of services providers involved in the Southwest Educational Development Laboratory's (SEDL) Rural, Small Schools Initiative, this guide provides rural school administrators with a resource in identifying, selecting, and negotiating with staff development providers. The resource book…